Monday, January 22, 2007

Mayweather Sr. seeks $2M to train De La Hoya vs. son

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Floyd Mayweather Sr., who has trained Oscar De La Hoya since late 2000, said it doesn't appear he'll work for De La Hoya -- and against his son -- in the May 5 super welterweight title bout at the MGM Grand Garden.

De La Hoya hasn't chosen his trainer for what promoters hope will be the best-selling pay-per-view bout ever. It's expected to be the biggest nonheavyweight fight, and the elder Mayweather said he wants his share of a large pie.

"If they want me to work against my son, then they're going to have to pay me," Mayweather Sr. told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "My son and I, no matter what's gone down between us, he's still my blood. Hey, I'd work for Oscar if the deal is right, because that's my job and boxing is just a sport.

"But if you want me to tell you how to beat my son -- and I'm the only one who can tell Oscar how to do that -- then you need to pay me."

Mayweather Sr. said he was offered a $500,000 guarantee and $500,000 if De La Hoya wins, which he called insulting. He said he wants a flat $2 million. De La Hoya is expected to make a guarantee in excess of $20 million and will share in the pay-per-view profits.

Mayweather and his son have feuded since 1999 and rarely speak. The elder Mayweather said he would work for his son if his son asked, though he said he didn't expect it. Mayweather Jr. employs his uncle, Roger Mayweather, as his trainer.

Mayweather Sr. said he has no other disputes with De La Hoya and, if he isn't hired to work this fight, would not rule out working for De La Hoya again in the future.

But he said there's no way he'll accept a flat $1 million, let alone the offer he said De La Hoya made.

"Let him take his million and give it to someone else," Mayweather Sr. said. "It's not like he doesn't have the money to pay me. And this isn't just any fight. And that isn't just any fighter. That's my son in there. Good, bad or indifferent, that's my son."

Mayweather Sr. said if he doesn't work the fight, he expects his son to have little problem beating De La Hoya.

"All he has to do is stay away from the left hook and it's over," Mayweather Sr. said. "But with me, I'll show Oscar how to land that left. That would change things."

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

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